repressio

Forms

repressiō, repressiōnis f; third declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin reprimō (“to press back, check”) + -tiō.^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Latin Hegesippus (AD 370–375) has it in the plural of trumpet signals: soldiers were to learn excitationes tubarum et repressiones, the calls to attack and to retreat.^[1][4]

Semantic evolution

In Christian writers it was an act of restraint applied to the mind: Ambrose uses it of checking error, Augustine of Lent as a curbing of old desires, and Gregory the Great of divine discipline.^[3] Conte gives the sense “criticism” for the passage in Ambrose.^[2] A Christian inscription praising a marriage of 25 years sine repressione is probably a misspelling of reprehensione, “reproach”.^[3][1]

Medieval Latin in Britain used it for holding a physical force in check, restraining people and suppressing abstract things.^[5] A 12th-century music treatise has it for a melodic descent, perhaps by mistake for depressio.^[6] English repression (late 14th century) is from the English verb or from this Medieval Latin noun.^[7]

Timeline

• 370–375 AD – Hegesippus has it of the trumpet signal to retreat.^[1]
• c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose uses it of checking error.^[3][8]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine calls Lenten observance a restraint of old desires.^[3][8]
• 540–604 AD – Gregory the Great uses it in his Moralia.^[3][8]
• 12th century – A music treatise uses it of a melodic descent.^[6]
• 1271 – An English close roll speaks of restraining ill-wishers in the kingdom.^[5]
• late 14th century – English repression appears.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin, military) A retreat signal given by trumpet.^[1][4][2]
2. (Late Latin) A checking or restraint, especially of the mind and its desires.^[3]
3. (Late Latin) Criticism, censure.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin) Suppression, repression of a force, a person or a thing.^[5]
5. (Medieval Latin, music) A melodic descent.^[6]

Related words

• repressivus
• English repression

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
2. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi (1992–), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; online ed. Wörterbuchnetz
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de